Czechs Offer Even More Money For Vista

It turns out that the Czechoslovak Group (CSG) really really really wants to buy Vista Outdoors’ ammunition business. They want it so bad that they’ve actually upped their bid again, ahead of a crucial shareholder vote that will see whether or not a huge chunk of American domestic ammo manufacturing ends up with foreign ownership.

Vista Outdoors @ TFB:

New Vista Outdoor Corporate Foundation Non-Profit Announced Vista Outdoors Board Recommends Selling Ammo Business To CSG [SHOT 2024] Federal And Remington – New Ammo Releases From Vista Outdoor

The story so far

Vista Outdoors is the ownership behind (as the name implies) a collection of outdoors-related companies based in the U.S., and that includes Remington’s and Federal’s ammunition manufacturing business. In their quest to buy up arms and ammo manufacturing capability, CSG has offered to purchase Vista’s ammo production business and has been working on this deal for months, jumping through regulatory hurdles even as Vista’s board rejected an offer from American ownership.

The news comes after Vista’s board rejected a buyout offer from American investors at MNC Capital. MNC reportedly offered Vista a buyout price of $42 a share, which would work out to $3.2B for the whole company. Vista’s board rejected that offer, saying it wasn’t enough cash. Instead, they unanimously backed an offer from CSG which initially saw the Czechs paying $2.1B for Vista Outdoors’ ammunition business, which is conducted under a subsidiary called the Kinetic Group.

More money at the last minute

Now, CSG has offered another $50M for the Kinetic Group, ahead of a vote on the sale. There’s also some fine print in the offer, related to Revelyst, which is Vista’s subsidiary that’s focused on things like mountain bikes and other outdoor pursuits. You can read the whole thing here, but the takeaway is this: CSG is very determined to make this deal happen, and seems to have access to boatloads of money to do so.